


An Audience at the Court of the Empress

by CunningAndGeil



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Forced Orgasm, Humiliation, In Public, M/M, Multi, Non-Consensual, Oral Sex, Power Dynamics, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:35:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22960309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CunningAndGeil/pseuds/CunningAndGeil
Summary: Saris has been sent as an emissary to secure the support of the Empress against Dacian raiders who threaten his home's survival- but when he arrives to find the chief of Dace himself seated by the Empress's side any hope of success quickly unravels. To Saris's surprise, however, he founds himself banished not to the dungeons but to the Empress's personal harem... can he somehow navigate his precarious position to save himself and his homeland?
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Kudos: 6





	An Audience at the Court of the Empress

\-----------------------------  
Part 1  
\-----------------------------

The great wood doors closed behind Saris. Ahead, the Empress's throne room was cavernous, lit by an endless row of torches and the flickering reflection of ostentatious gold decor. The Empress herself was in the center, of course. Her silver circlet and unadorned silk dress should have looked drab among the opulence, but instead she drew the eye like a shaft of light. However, if the Empress stopped Saris’ heart for a beat, the figure next to her stopped him cold.

Seated on the left, dressed in matching white silks, was Chaek - warchief of Dace, and the very man Saris had been sent to win the Empress’s support against. Saris was sure he must have halted in his tracks at that moment, eyes wide, but apparently he had continued on toward the thrones. He found himself at the dais, took a deep breath, and bowed, “Great Majesty, ruler of golden lands, voice of the Obsidian Goddess, the Isles of Solace wish to present a humble gift,”

Saris, with all the art he could muster, swept the cloth away from the bundle he had been holding. Beneath was an intricate clockwork device of gleaming metal and gems. At a touch, the parts began to rotate and form pictures, first a summer landscape, then a bird of prey, finally a flattering likeness of the Empress herself.

The Empress's face remained impassive and unreadable as the scenes changed. Chaek leaned over, speaking in a low but fully audible voice “Your grace, these are the pirates I was telling you of. Treacherous as snakes, but this is boldfaced, even for them. I recommend you melt that clockwork menace down immediately, and execute its bearers.” The Empress looked thoughtful, then gave a shallow nod, keeping every auburn lock carefully in place.

Guards appeared almost instantly, hands on hilts, and wearing tabards bearing the Empress’s blue and scarlet crest. Saris dropped every trace of poise and decorum as they neared, dropping to his knees “Please, your majesty, it’s untrue, the artwork has no purpose but to entertain - and was made for your honor - there is no need -” 

There was an almost imperceptible tap of painted fingernail on the throne’s arm, but the guards halted in a heartbeat. For the first time, the Empress spoke, with something that could almost be a smile playing on her lips “Take him to the harem.” Chaek started to say something, but stopped himself.

As the guards led him away, Saris called out, tone still high and panicked ‘Please, your majesty, I have a matter of importance for your atten- “ The smaller doors of the side entrance swung closed behind him.

\---------------------

Saris continued to tug at his captors and plead, but without real hope. After an uncounted number of hallways, he was shoved forward into a large room. The walls consisted mostly of mirrors, and at the far end were rows of bunks. That, however, was not the first thing that drew his attention. 

What he first noticed, and then attempted to avert his eyes from, was a row of perhaps a dozen men, all completely naked, hands behind backs, small black collars around necks, and all fully erect. In front of the row stood a short but muscular women dressed similarly to the guards, but without an obvious weapon. 

She turned towards Saris, looking surprised. The surprise vanished quickly, and she turned, smiling, to address the men. “My, looks like we are in luck boys, a fresh one to play with.” Stepping close to Saris, she lifted his chin with her hand so he had to meet her eyes. “Let's get introduced shall we? My name is Lady Shasta.” 

After a long intense look that seemed to say ‘don’t even think of stepping out of line’, she led him forward by the chin to each of the men in turn, leaving only about a hand’s width between their faces. “This is Buttermilk, Honey, Cinnamon, “ as she led him along he could feel the cocks brush lightly against his legs, and “... and at the end here is Maple.” Lady Shasta gave Maple a playful swat on the ass, then turned back to Saris. “You are simply ‘new one’ for now, understood?” 

Saris’ head was spinning but he managed a small nod. “Good, now come with me.” She led him towards a beaded curtain at the opposite side of the room.

\---------------------

Behind the curtain was one part lounge and one part study. The walls were either more mirrors or hung with deep red curtains, while low sofas and tables were scattered the length of the room. On the far wall however were a couple of desks and a wall of shelved papers. A young woman with short red hair, dressed much like Lady Shasta, sat at one of them writing.

Lady Shasta sat down at another of the desks, directing Saris to stand. She turned in her chair to the other woman. “Leta, you will need to do the measurements on the new one and get him settled, alright? I’ll cover the rest of the scheduling.” Leta replied with a quick “Of course”, and then began bustling around the room, somehow contriving never to look directly at Saris.

He stood there for what felt like a long time, ignored for the moment, shifting on his feet, brain struggling to catch up with the last thirty minutes. He was not being executed, that was the only thing he could hold on to in this flood of unprocessable events. Saris explored in his mind the possibility of still getting a chance to speak with Empress again, before his mind recoiled at the path to do so.

His reverie was broken by a deft motion from Leta snapping a collar around his neck like those worn by the men outside. Still without looking him in the eyes or speaking to him Leta led him through a door into a yet smaller side room. Inside resembled a washroom - white tile everywhere, wooden cabinets on the side, a large table in the middle, and mirrors all around.  
Now Leta looked him right in the eyes, face conveying the first look of what could have been sympathy that he had encountered. “This step is always difficult on the first day, but I promise you, it will go far, far better for you, if you don’t make me call for more guards, do you understand?” She regarded him steadily. Saris finally worked up the courage to say something, “Please, this has been a mistake, there was a lie, but I know for certain I can prove it false if I just get a chance to speak -”

Leta’s expression shifted to disappointment, and lightning fast she slapped him on the face. “Last warning, don’t make this happen the hard way. Undress. Now.”

Saris’ eyes shot down to the floor, face burning for more than one reason as he struggled with the laces on his shirt. He didn’t dare look up until he was finished, and wearing nothing but the collar she had snapped on. Leta had produced several measuring tapes, and what came next was oddly similar to any other tailoring measurements, apart from the immodesty of not wearing a single scrap of clothing.

Leta turned to dig something else out of a cabinet and instructed Saris to sit on the high table. He was mortified to discover as he sat that he had acquired a partial erection that was impossible to hide with any squirming on the table or positioning of his legs. 

When Leta turned back around and looked at him, her sympathetic look was back.  
“Well, that will make things easier” She still had out the piece of paper she had been making tailoring notes on, and made another note. Looking up she asked, “Now, can you tell me how long it’s been since your last orgasm?”  
Saris froze, stammered, squirmed again. Leta turned up the smile. “Come on, beautiful, nothing to be embarrassed about. Just give me a number.” She gave him an expectant look. Saris mumbled out “two weeks” and she put the paper aside and moved closer.

“Ok, there is still another measurement to make.” She looked pointedly downward. “You are going to need to get it full-sized for me. Go on put you hands there, I’ll be able to tell when you’re ready.”

In all honestly his cock barely needed his hands on it to get fully erect. He struggled to look anywhere else in the room as he did so, but the mirrors made it a difficult prospect. Still trying to avert his eyes he felt Leta wrap the measure around his cock and then press it against his length. 

When he finally got the courage to look back in Leta’s direction she was looking apologetic. “You’ve been so good so far, I’m afraid the next bit is going to be a little tougher.” Her face brightened suddenly “You wait here, let me just go ask Lady Shasta something.” She swiftly turned and headed back through the only doorway, leaving Saris alone with his barely fading erection and his own naked body reflected every direction he looked.

After a short conversation Saris couldn’t make out, Leta returned with a wide metal bowl. She told him to come down to the floor on his hands and knees, which he reluctantly did, and she placed the bowl underneath him. Leta went on as she knelt down next to him and put a hand on his back, “Lady Shasta was very understanding, you are going to be allowed to cum if you need to, just as long as you clean up properly after.” Saris twitched, tried to stand up, but Leta’s hands held him firmly. She slapped him again, this time on his ass. Her voice became stern, “That is not a very grateful way to behave. Struggle and the guards will come and tie you down.” He stopped moving and she immediately resumed a reassuring stroke of his back. “Better. Now try and relax a little, move that leg over this way,” 

Though by now he was expecting it, he still jolted forward as he felt something hard slide slowly into his ass. “There, steady, just like that” He could feel one of Leta’s hands still pressing firmly on his lower back. The object went deeper, then pumped in and out rhythmically. To his surprise he let out an involuntary moan and his already hard cock started to twitch. Leta let out a small laugh, “I thought you might like that.” An uncomfortable time passed as he knelt there with the sound of notetaking behind him, before Leta finally pulled the object gently out.

The reprieve was short lived - a moment later what felt like a larger object went in and this time he could not stop himself from cumming. Even after everything, this left him with a redder face than anything before. Mercifully, Leta did not comment on this, nor when he surprised himself by cumming again with the next penetration.

Several objects later, his moans were turning pained. She pushed and he let out a strained gasp, almost falling forward. He risked finally using his voice, which cracked, “Please, I don’t think that…” Leta interrupted him. “Alright, we’ll make this the last one,” she said and he breathed in relief as he felt her slide it out. Saris started to stand up but he felt her pressure on his back again and she spoke sharply. “Hey, not so fast” and she shoved the metal bowl forward with her foot. It had been well positioned, catching most of his cum. “Use your tongue on that, get it nice and clean, don’t make me report you after all that.”

Surely all this would be over if he could just get out of this room. He leaned forward and put his face to it. It was salty and warm but not as bad as he had feared.

At last he was allowed to stand up. Leta was talking as she pulled some clothing from another cabinet. Saris must have missed the start of what she said, immersed in his own stunned and mortified world “... we do still need to test gag reflexes but we can save that for another day. You can put on these if you like, usually new ones want something on their first day.” The clothes were simply a small thong underneath something between a skirt and a loin cloth, but he put them on eagerly. 

After he’d dressed, Leta looked him up and down and reached up to smooth his hair. “Perfect! This way!”

\---------------------

Back in the red curtained room, Saris was this time directed to sit while Lady Shasta and Leta conversed in low tones on the other side of the room. Several minutes passed before there was a knock from the direction of the entrance, and Lady Shasta called “Enter”.

A man he had seen before came in, slight with short brown hair, and still completely naked. He was walking oddly and though Saris tried to avert his eyes again, he could not avoid noticing the white sticky liquid dripping down the back of the man’s leg. He came up to Lady Shasta, eyes down, and said “I, uh, I took Almond’s cock, and Buttermilk’s.” He turned around slightly at the waist to give her a better look at his ass. She smiled and patted the dry part. “Good boy, let’s check properly and get you cleaned up.”

Lady Shasta sat down and took him over her knees, spreading his ass wide to wipe the cum out with a wet rag. As he got back to his feet she said affectionately, “I’ll mark you down, don’t worry, now and see if you can’t find someone else to send you back in here before curfew.” He scurried back outside with a bow and a “Thank you, yes Lady”.

Saris had been so engrossed with the interchange he had not even noticed Leta was now standing above where he sat. She proceeded to reach down and grab his chin, pointing it up at her. “Honey’s quite pretty, don’t you think?” she nudged, gesturing at the beaded door the man had just disappeared through.  
“Um, yes, sure.” Leta sat down next to him, smiling and placing a hand on his leg. “Excellent, I can place you as his bunkmate… and don’t worry, you’ll get a good rest soon, just have to make sure you know the rules before I send you off to your bunk. First, cumming is strictly prohibited unless given permission.” She then leaned forward conspiratorially, hand inching up his leg “With the exception, of course, of a cock in one of the other’s asses or mouths. You can do that all you like, just make sure you can still get hard again after.” Her hand had started gently stroking the cloth between his legs. “You get rewarded for taking it too, of course. Like Honey there, just come in and prove what a good little slut you are and we’ll mark you down towards a free day, ok?” Even apart from the distraction of her hand, he could think of nothing to say or do but nod again.

Her hand gave his hardening cock a squeeze through the fabric and she smiled wider “Good, I didn’t take it all out of you, now let’s find your bunk.”

\---------------------

Coming back into the common room, most of the men were still naked but a few were wearing something similar to Saris’ clothing. Leta led him to a bunk where the man he recognized as Honey was sitting. “Bunks are always in twos, kiss all you like, but try and keep fucking to the floor down there - the bedding is black to spot cum stains from anyone trying to break the rules.” She paused and Saris stood awkwardly, looking at the floor. She leaned close, whispering in his ear, “Get some good rest now, morning comes early!” Then she squeezed his ass, turned and headed back.

Saris sat down gingerly, feeling all the rest of the eyes in the room on him. Honey put a hand on his leg and he flinched, but Honey’s face looked friendly. “Just so you know,” he said in a low voice, “the trainers will probably go easier on you tomorrow if they see us getting very close tonight.” At this point Saris was too numb to object to anything. He let himself be undressed and entwined himself chest to chest with Honey. Saris began to drift towards sleep, but the events of the day would not stop replaying themselves in his mind, and he realized with horror they were causing an erection, which was rubbing on Honey’s leg. He wriggled slightly so it lay on the bed instead, but regardless the other man seemed fast asleep. What seemed like an eternity later Saris also drifted into an uneasy but desperately needed sleep.

\--------------------------------------------  
Part 2  
\--------------------------------------------

Saris was woken by the sound of fucking. Perhaps two meters from his bed a large, long-haired man was bent over a stool moaning rhythmically with his mouth around a cock while another penetrated his ass. Saris tried to turn back over onto his pillow but Lady Shasta spotted him. “Hey, new one, don’t go getting squeamish, come down here and get a good look”

He rolled out of bed, only now noticing Honey was nowhere to be seen. As he approached, Lady Shasta pushed him down to his knees, pressing his head near the moaning man’s. “Go on, give Cinnamon a little kiss of encouragement.” She pushed Saris’s face farther forward until he could give him a peck on the neck as it moved back and forth. Lady Shasta continued approvingly, “Look at him here take all that length, you think you could go next?” Saris must have gone white. She laughed and pointed in the direction of a door marked sauna, “Go on then, get yourself cleaned up.”

\---------------------

A trip to a steam room and pools filled with scented waters - in other contexts it would have been rather enjoyable. Honey was also bathing here but neither he nor anyone else spoke to Saris. As he sat in the hot water he tried to gather his thoughts. There was no obvious plan for escape. Even if he could somehow get through the one door leading out of these rooms there was a whole palace of guards. But the Empress had sent him here, right? Surely that meant there would be some opportunity to try again to talk to her.

Suddenly he realized the room was almost empty and Lady Shasta was shouting that bathing time was over. Outside, everyone was lining up much as he had seen them yesterday, naked with hands behind backs. As Lady Shasta paced the line, she stopped in front of Saris, grabbing his cock directly in her hands. He flinched and fought the urge to pull away. “Let me help you a little,” she said, rolling it in her hands “The rules are to stand at attention, no going soft or cumming until the ninth bell. But Leta tells me you enjoyed your measurements so much you might have some trouble today.” She then gave a wink as she patted his now fully erect cock. “Not to worry, for now you may use your hands”

Saris had no idea how long it was to the ninth bell, but it felt like hours. Several times he started to go soft, Lady Shasta noticed, and rapped him on the tip of his cock. By the time the bell chimed, his cock ached, he was parched and his stomach was starting to rumble from hunger.

\---------------------

As it turned out, another rule was being forbidden to eat food with your own hands. Lady Shasta described it as the bunk relationship rule: each person was only allowed to feed the other, and furthermore while being fed was expected to use their free hands to keep their cock hard. 

Saris decided he was less hungry than he thought, and attempted to slip back to the bathing room. He started to relax again in the warm water after several minutes, before once again being startled by Leta sitting down next to him, feet dangling in the water. She looked sideways at him “Going to go hungry, huh?”

She stroked the wet hair on the side of his head, “You know, I’m also allowed to feed you…” Leta produced a banana from her pocket, peeled the end and held it out. “Start with licking it up and down. I’ll tell you when you can take a bite.” Saris hesitated, but he was getting quite hungry and regardless it did not seem prudent to disobey her.

It started to crumble in his mouth before he got permission to eat it. Every time he looked up she was still staring at him intently, stroking his head with her other hand. When he was done, she reached down a hand, helping him out of the pool, before pulling him close for a kiss, one hand holding his ass and the other behind his head. After a long lingering moment she squeezed his ass harder and whispered in his ear, “Now get back out there before I have to mark you for punishment.”

\---------------------

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with surprisingly ordinary, if strict, exercises. They ran the length of the room, lifted weights, did stretches. It was exhausting but Saris managed to keep up - just. Afterwards they were told to bathe a second time and prepare for a display at dinner. 

At Lady Shasta’s direction, he dressed himself again in the clothes still near his bunk. After spending so much of the day naked, and erect, it felt odd wearing something, and his cock throbbed against the tight thong holding it down. Honey had to help Saris with the makeup, eye shadow and flowers in the Empress’s colors on the cheeks.

Lady Shasta informed them they were to gracefully serve the food, then sit by the Empress’s side in pairs kissing and caressing each other.

As Saris stepped out into the banquet hall he had at least a hundred different kinds of knots in his stomach, and more became apparent with each step. First, walking among all the elegantly dressed guests while wearing virtually nothing, every few steps he had the urge to try and pull down the short piece of cloth barely long enough to cover his ass if he walked particularly rigidly. A second knot developed almost instantly trying to carry the huge dinner trays. He nearly tripped twice and he did not want to imagine what Lady Shasta might do if she were truly angry.

What nearly made him drop the tray even without tripping was the overheard conversation of the guests, however. “... it’s different every time, really. No, I think it just looks like mirrors from the inside, lets you stare as much as you want, you know? Oh you can’t imagine what I saw them doing with that one carrying the roast, and you wouldn’t believe how eager they are for it.”

Saris felt dizzy as he remembered all the mirror filled rooms. He stumbled and set down his tray when he remembered the wall-length mirror in the room where Leta had performed her measurements. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up. It was Honey. He leaned down and whispered, “Just leave the tray, we need to get over there before Her Majesty comes out.” They moved quickly to a dais around a grand set of doors where the rest of the harem had gathered. Saris sat down, but before he could take in the situation Honey’s mouth was on his and he no longer had an angle to see the Empress’s entrance.

The kisses and embrace distracted him more than he would have imagined. Even constrained under cloth he was sure his erection must be obvious. It was impossible not to return the passionate kiss.

Eventually the Empress moved around the side of the central table and Saris got a look at her... and also at Chaek with whom she was linked arm in arm. Over the course of the evening he was sure the Empress looked over at him several times, but her expression remained as unreadable as ever, and he had no opportunity to come nearer. As Lady Shasta led them back to the bunks, however, Honey whispered, “I think the Empress will ask for us in her chambers tonight.”

\---------------------

Honey was correct. As the rest of the harem went to their bunks, Leta led the two of them to the red-curtained room. “Honey, I know you know what to do, but you,” she grabbed Saris by the wrists, “need to know you are not to speak unless spoken to, you do not look Her Majesty in the eye unless told to, and perform every command without hesitation, do you understand?” He nodded but she still held on, “I need to hear a ‘yes Leta’.” He gulped, looked her in the eye and said, “Yes Leta.”

They needed to reapply their makeup, this time in fact body paint the length of their bodies. Wearing only that and their collars, they entered the bed chamber.

The chamber was long and tastefully lit, with many small semi-hidden doorways Saris assumed were for swift access by guards in case of emergency. The Empress sat in the immense bed in the center, hair now wild, free of whatever stylings were necessary for public appearance. She seemed far smaller, lying back so relaxed, but maybe it was merely the size of the bed.

She motioned them closer, until they climbed up and stood on hands and knees on the foot of the bed. She looked directly at Saris, and he remembered suddenly to avert his eyes from her, though he could still feel hers on him. “Use your mouth on him.” Honey had already moved to position himself underneath Saris. As he looked down he hesitated, but could see no good coming of displeasing the Empress, so put his head down on to the shaft.

The taste was not unpleasant, though he found himself shutting his eyes to escape the view of the up-and-down motion. Moments later he felt a hand on his cock and realized it had to be the Empress, moving it back and forth slowly in time with the movements of his head. The Empress did not say to stop, so he went on, until his neck ached and he struggled not to cum in her hands. 

The Empress’ hands did finally stop at the sound of one of the side doors opening. Saris opened his eyes but couldn’t see the door. He heard the Empress speak, in an oddly impish tone, “My, you look stressed, perhaps you need your cock sucked?” A lower, rougher voice, that seemed impossibly to belong to Chaek answered, “Please, Majesty, Blossom of the Dawn, I long to spend the night with you alone, to whisper sweet nothings as we lie blissfully entwined-” 

“Oh, come darling, you can do that right here. Now get those trousers off and you can come put your hands on my sweet nothings.”

Though the angle prevented him from seeing anything, Saris kept his mouth around Honey’s cock, both in obedience and the unfathomable discomfort and danger of being recognized by Chaek. He heard the movements of the imperial couple rearranging themselves, and a low moan of the Empress.

“Over here, you two, I want one cock in each hand.” As Saris turned, he saw the Empress riding Chaek, impaled, with a hand outstretched in either direction. They moved over to her, and she grasped them just as she said, hands moving in rhythm with the up and down of her body. The moans became louder until she and her consort clearly reached orgasm.

They collapsed in a heap just in time as Saris’ felt almost sick with the effort of holding back from his own orgasm. The Empress lay with her head on Chaek’s chest, regarding the two of them lazily, hair far more askew even than before. “Oh you poor boys, holding off like that. Blow each other!”  
It did not take much more than mere seconds of each other’s mouths on their cocks to trigger release. Saris body sagged in relief and exhaustion, and it took him long moments to realize the Empress was ordering them to lick each other clean.

It tasted not much worse than his own, was one of many confused thoughts drifting through his head as he was led back to his bunk.

\-----------------------------------------  
Part 3  
\-----------------------------------------

The next day Saris had a new name, Caramel. Leta explained, with a smirk of course, that it was based on your most intimate flavor. She said that on special occasions they would spread sticky flavoring between the legs to be licked off.

He had almost stopped going red in the face at the daily routine, when that afternoon he faltered in the exercises. Half the night awake had taken its toll and he found himself on the ground when he should have been running. Lady Shasta loomed over him, an unpleasantly pleased look on her face. “Well, I can’t have this you know, soon nobody will be finishing their exercises. Leta, bring out the stocks.”

The stocks were a small table with shackles attached, set up in the center of the common room. Saris shook a little as he was bent over and forced into the locks. “Lady, please, I was just tired, let me do the run ag-” A hard slap on the ass shut him up.

Lady Shasta placed a hand on his back, and addressed the rest of the harem. “Caramel here is a free cum dump for the rest of the day, and if you can all make him cum more than ten times I have a free day for all of you.”

It didn’t take them long to take advantage, especially those that had been previously under watch to not cum, as punishments or training. Saris felt the first cock in his ass, making him squirm and moan, but he didn’t repeatedly start cumming until the rest of the harem worked out that the easiest way to bring him off was a cock in the mouth at the same time. Leta stood over him observing the proceedings, counting each time his cock spasmed to another orgasm, and gently reminding him to swallow each mouthful of cum.

He wasn’t sure how long it took to reach ten, but it must have been very late, judging by the tired nature of the cheers. He almost collapsed into Leta’s arms as she unshackled him and took him to the pools to wash off.

His daze didn’t begin to clear until he realized with a start that she had not led him back to his bunk, but he was instead lying in a bed in an unfamiliar room entirely lacking in mirrors. Leta came out through a door to the side, wearing what looked like a sleeping robe. She lay down next to him, running her hand through his hair and along his side. “There, I thought you might need some recovery time, you can just lie still here for a while.” With that, she wrapped herself protectively around him and shut her eyes. Caught between a racing mind and sheer exhaustion Saris finally closed his eyes as well.

\---------------------

Saris awoke, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, gently. Leta was sitting up in bed next to him reading something. When she saw he was awake she drew him closer and ran her hands gently along his shoulders. He was afraid to break the moment, so stayed silent until at last she closed the book and put it aside.

“The rest have a free day. You know, technically I’m supposed to keep you in training, but it looked like you might need some time to recover.”  
“I, uh, I’m grateful, Leta”  
“Of course you are.” She leaned down and kissed him again. Slowly, he started to kiss back. 

As they grew more passionate she pushed his head down until it was between her legs. He was clumsy at first but instructions of ‘faster’,’harder’,’slower’ brought her to heavy breathing and at last a long gasp.

They continued to lounge in the bed through the day, and Saris finally found a way to talk about his past and how he got there, and even what he had wanted to tell the Empress. She laughed at first. “You want to tell her that her consort is already betraying her? You don’t need an audience, you need a miracle!”

Finally, several long hours and orgasms later, Leta relented. “Alright, I can do this once, get you to her chamber in the reading hour when her consort is out. But if she doesn’t like what you have to say, I did nothing, you are just an escaped slave, got it?” Saris nearly cried with relief and promised for the hundredth time it would work.

\---------------------

Leta had given Saris some rough servant's garb, and hidden herself just outside the door to the study. As he walked down the row of books, the Empress did not even look up until he was virtually at her side. She looked up and there was a flicker of recognition. They both started to say something, when there was a crash of bookshelves, someone with a sword was diving for him and he ducked for cover instinctively. 

Looking behind he saw fighting, and several dead bodies. In front of him the Empress had freed a ceremonial sword from the wall and was sparing with the armed ́figure that had sent Saris sprawling. He wanted to run but there was no opening. The action seemed to happen, then, in slow motion. The Empress in a moment disarmed, a lunge forward, then a gurgling topple as Leta stood behind the assailant with one of the fallen guard’s swords.

\-----------------------------  
Epilogue  
\---------------------------------

Leta was awarded a lordship for bravery and service to the crown, and a special dispensation of her choice of reward from the imperial harem.

Saris never return to the Isles of Solace, but the islands retained their independence following the abrupt imperial invasion of Dace. He lived out his days in luxury and service to Lady Leta.

Chaek of Dace was far from the palace when his assassins struck, and it took years of rooting out his guerilla fighters in the hills before he eventually surrendered and took his place in the Empress’s harem proper.

The Empress reigned another 40 years, happy to encourage the rumours of her ruthlessness and depravity.


End file.
